XIV

PREPACK.

is the study of the schools, bv which men riseto preferment; and there are no people withmore acute or better regulated minds than theSwedes.

To those whose minds and understandingsare already formed, this study may be recom-mended, independently of all other considera-tions, as a rich source of innocent pleasure.Some people are ever inquiring “ what is the use”of any particular plant, by which they mean“ what food or physic, or what materials forthe painter or dyer does it afford r” They lookon a beautiful flowery meadow with admiration,only in proportion as it affords nauseous drugsor salves. Others consider a botanist with re-spect only as he may be able to teach them someprofitable improvement in tanning, or dyeing,by which they may quickly grow rich, and bethen perhaps no longer of any use to mankindor to themselves. They would permit theirchildren to study Botany , only because it mightpossibly lead to professorships, or other lucra-tive preferment.

These views are not blameable, but they arenot the sole end of human existence. Is it notdesirable to call the soul from the feverish agi-